Midway through trading Friday, the Dow traded up 0.70 percent to 16,386.76 while the NASDAQ surged 0.44 percent to 4,338.01. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.69 percent to 1,867.06.

Leading and Lagging Sectors
In trading on Friday, industrials shares were relative leaders, up on the day by about 0.71 percent. Leading the sector was strength from Maxwell Technologies (NASDAQ: MXWL) and The Standard Register Company (NYSE: SR).

Telecommunications services sector gained 0.12 percent in the US market today. Among the sector stocks, Iridium Communications (NASDAQ: IRDM) was down more than 4.5 percent, while America Movil S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE: AMX) tumbled around 2.3 percent.

Top Headline
Pepco Holdings (NYSE: POM) reported a 35% rise in its fourth-quarter profit. For the year, Pepco projects earnings of $1.12 to $1.27 per share, versus analysts' estimates of $1.22 per share. Pepco's quarterly earnings surged to $58 million, or $0.23 per share, versus a year-ago profit of $43 million, or $0.18 per share. Excluding one –time items, its earnings from continuing operations came in at $0.24 per share. Its total operating revenue climbed 3.3% to $1.09 billion. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.21 per share on revenue of $1.11 billion.

Equities Trading UP
Central European Media Enterprises (NASDAQ: CETV) shot up 74.54 percent to $4.73 after the company reported Q4 results.

Shares of OmniVision Technologies (NASDAQ: OVTI) got a boost, shooting up 8.27 percent to $17.54 after the company posted better-than-expected Q3 results.

Equities Trading DOWN
Shares of Endologix (NASDAQ: ELGX) were down 23.48 percent to $13.68 on lowered guidance, analyst downgrades. Oppenheimer downgraded the stock from Outperform to Market Perform and cut the price target from $20.00 to $16.00.

Deckers Outdoor (NASDAQ: DECK) shares tumbled 13.61 percent to $73.15 after the company expected a Q1 loss of $0.16 per share. Analysts at Jefferies downgraded the stock from Buy to Hold and lowered the price target from $100 to $75.

KBR (NYSE: KBR) was down, falling 14.68 percent to $27.25 after the company reported fourth-quarter results and announced a new $350 million share buyback program. BB&T Capital downgraded the stock from Buy to Hold.